Peeing your pants in the cockpit has never been better: Fighter pilots receiving new urine collection and storage gear

It might sound funny to some, but having to pee can be a real problem for military aviators in the fight. Once holding it in becomes distracting, common sense dictates that you’ve got to let it go to focus on more important things, and for a long while, letting it go often meant soaking your kit and your seat. As a result, some pilots have been known to drink less before combat operations to reduce their need to urinate — but that can lead to far worse problems than some warm, wet discomfort.

That practice of “tactical dehydration” (as it’s been called) can reduce one’s situational awareness and decision making abilities during long-duration operations. It can also effect a pilot’s ability to withstand high G-forces, which can be fatal for fighter pilots in combat. As a result, the Air Force’s Life Cycle Management Center’s Human Systems Division has been hard at work finding better ways for pilots to pee in their aircraft — particularly for females who have historically gotten the short end of the proverbial stick when it comes to urine-collection equipment.

“Urinary [relief] devices are the number one priority that female aircrews have when it comes to mission equipment,” said Lt. Col. Elaine Bryant, deputy director of the Human Systems Division. That’s where the Aircrew Mission Extender Device, also known as the AMXDmax, comes in.

(Courtesy of Omni Medical)

With variants for both male and female pilots, the AMXDmax is a battery operated piece of gear the pilot puts on under their flight suit. When the need arises, male pilots fill a collection cup and female pilots fill a collection pad — from there, an electric pump removes the urine and stores it in a separate container with a maximum capacity of 1.7 quarts.

“They are a vast improvement over the legacy relief devices that many aircrews are currently using. The battery life is longer, it holds more urine, the pads are better, the cups are better and overall it’s more anatomically correct,” Bryant went on.

Thus far, some 600 devices have already reached the field, with 1,500 more expected for delivery to the Air Force by this summer.

Feature image courtesy of the Dept. of Defense

About the Author

Alex Hollings
Alex Hollings writes on a breadth of subjects ranging from fitness to foreign policy, all presented through the lens of his experiences as a U.S. Marine, athlete and scholar. A football player, rugby player and fighter, Hollings has spent the better part of his adult life competing in some of the most physically demanding sports on the planet. Hollings possesses a master's degree in communications from Southern New Hampshire University, as well as a bachelor's degree in Corporate and Organizational Communications from Framingham State University.